Books and Crafts for China

Saturday, June 24, 2017

I've been reading books about China for 20 years.You see, I adopted a little girl from China back in 1999. And ever since my husband and I made the decision, I've been reading all kinds of books. Picture books, chapter books, folktales. Books for girls. Books for boys. Books for moms and dads.
Books about food. Memoirs. Histories. Books about people living in China. Books about Americans who went to live in China. Books about Chinese basketball teams.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Here is the second booklist with Everyday Diversity titles. This one is geared to the youngest children: babies and toddlers. Here you can find books about babies with diverse heritages who pal around with doggies, get a fish for a pet, go to bed, and put on red socks in the morning. The point is that they are all in everday situations that are more or less universal to the little ones. Here is a link to the site.

Have you ever wished there were books that showed kids that look like your kid, doing everyday things? I was always happy to find books with Asian characters for my daughter, but lots of them took place in ancient China, or in Chinatown. I wanted to see books about things like visiting going to the library, or working out disagreements with playmates, or losing a tooth, that happened to have a main character with Chinese heritage.

This site, and the one mentioned below, have lists of books with diverse main characters involved in a variety of things--reading books, playing with blocks, riding the bus, dancing--you know, things that all kids do. Some of them are Asian, though it would still be nice to see even more Asian characters. But I feel it's important to read our kids books with pictures of all kinds of heritages so that they see all the cultures of America reflected in the books they read.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

This is an easy craft that you can use with a group for Year of the Rooster. Just print, cut, and go. Bookmarks include pinyin words and Chinese characters for "Happy New Year." You can click for printable templates.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

This is the simplest idea of all if you are doing a Chinese New Year program in this Year of the Rooster. Just print out these ready-to-go coloring pages, give the kids markers, colored pencils, or crayons, and let them go to it.You can find the printable templates here.